05 Jun 2018

Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Mr Eric Molale has told Parliament that neither his ministry nor Debswana had any records of complaints raised by any families or tribes linked to borehole point L009 (2125B301754).

Therefore, the minister said he could not appraise Parliament on the welfare of any such persons or families or their level of wealth and access to water, but could inform the house that the borehole was drilled by De Beers Botswana in the early 1970s.

He said the ministry had no records of the purported people working for Debswana as well as any relocation that ever took place during the establishment of Debswana. Therefore, “we cannot tell the affected families and their offsprings who could be currently working for Debswana.”

In addition, he said there were no records of relocations and complaints. “The number of people from the said families that were directly sponsored by Debswana could not established,” he said. He further told

Parliament that “my ministry will begin a process of enquiry into the issues raised by the question, as we do not have information about the said families.”

He said the process would entail identifying the said families so that their complaints were addressed
Boteti East MP, Mr Setlhomo Lelatisitswe had wanted the minister to brief Parliament on complaints raised by some families concerning the borehole point site identified as L009, and further state their level of wealth and access to water.

He also wanted the minister to state who was currently working for Debswana among the off springs of the families, and how Debswana would identify the families.

He further wanted the minister to state the number from these families that were sponsored by Debswana to appreciate what their forefathers did for Debswana shareholders. Ends